The madness is finally over after sports fans all over the nation worked frantically to prepare the best bracket possible in preparation for one of the most popular sports tournaments: March Madness. However, unlike years prior, the women’s 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament got significantly more attention than the men’s, making history in the process.
The NCAA Women’s Division Basketball Tournament is a single-elimination tournament that lasted from March 17 to April 7. Throughout those three weeks, 68 teams competed against each other, eliminating a team each game until only the South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa Hawkeyes remained. In the final round, South Carolina beat Iowa 87-75, completing their undefeated season. This game made history, as, for the first time ever, it had a bigger television audience than the men’s championship game, hitting a record 18.9 million viewers. This was a major accomplishment, as, historically, men’s sports are much more popular and get most of the attention from audiences, leaving women’s sports with little to no viewership, until now.
“I think it is really cool that the women’s game got more views than the men’s because that is something that does not happen very often in sports,” Ashley Miller, senior, said.
A big reason the women’s tournament saw an increase in its audience is thanks to the superstars in the league this year, one being Caitlin Clark. Clark has recently become an internet sensation as young girls and basketball fans follow her journey in college basketball, watching her break record after record, rising to be one of the best players in women’s NCAA basketball history. Within the tournament’s first 17 days, Clark became the all-time women’s NCAA Division I scoring leader, broke the major college scoring record, and reached the most career points in men and women’s Division I history. Millions tuned in each week to cheer on Clark and watch history in the making, bringing a whole new viewer demographic that the tournament had never seen before.
“I never really used to watch women’s basketball, but ever since Caitlin Clark started making headlines, I became more interested and even watched women’s March Madness,” Jimmy Dudgeon, senior, said.
Due to her success in March Madness, Clark was the first overall pick in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft and is now committed to the Indiana Fever. Many wonder if, because of Clark and other superstars’ switch to the WNBA, this massive amount of attention will follow them. If so, it would be a big deal, as, currently, the WNBA does not have high viewership, especially compared to the men’s league. Thus, this switch could help draw attention to WNBA’s current stars who do not get as much spotlight as they should.
“Women’s sports deserve a lot more attention and recognition than they get, and my hope is that this recent spark of attention will transfer over to the WNBA and more professional women’s sports,” Hannah Todd, junior, said.
Throughout history, there has been a fight for more attention and equality for women’s sports, and this recent increase is a step in the right direction. Make sure to tune in to the WNBA season, as it is sure to be an exciting extension from this year’s march madness, packed full of intense games and record-breaking feats.
